Gunmen kill 69 in Nigeria

(MENAFN -Arab News) kano: gunmen on motorbikes in northwest nigeria's katsina state killed at least 69 people in attacks on four villages, a local lawmaker told afp thursday, amid rising communal tension in the region

The state's police chief, hurdi mohammed, who gave a lower toll of 30 dead, told afp the violence was perpetrated by ethnic fulani herdsmen who have been blamed for scores of deadly raids

?so far, 69 bodies have been recovered from the attacks carried out by a large group of gunmen riding on motorcycles,? said katsina lawmaker abbas abdullahi michika of the violence which first broke out late tuesday

?the victims include men, women and children. rescue teams are still combing nearby bushes in search for more bodies,? he told afp

He specified that 47 people were killed in the village of mararrabar maigora while seven deaths were recorded in both kura mota and unguwar rimi

Another eight people were killed in maigora, according to michika

Fulani leaders have for years complained about the loss of grazing land which is crucial to their livelihood, with resentment between the herdsmen and their agrarian neighbors rising over the past decade

Most of the fulani-linked violence has been concentrated in the religiously divided center of the country, where rivalries between mostly muslim herdsmen and mostly christian farmers have helped fuel the unrest

While there is no religion element to the conflict in katsina, which is overwhelmingly muslim, tension between the fulani and ethnically hausa farmers has worsened in recent months. residents have blamed the fulani for several violent robberies this year

The police chief insisted the attacks were not linked to militant group boko haram, whose insurgency has killed more than 500 people in the northeast already this year.

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